Minister: Israel is an Internet Superpower

Minister of Public Diplomacy Yuli Edelstein says Israel is an online power that has nothing to fear as the era of cyberwarfare takes hold.

By Gabe Kahn.

First Publish: 1/20/2012, 12:58 PM

Israel's top public relations official, on Thursday, told Israelis not to worry about the Arab-Israeli Hacker War that has erupted in recent weeks, saying Israel is "an Internet Superpower."

"First of all there are two different things," Minister of Public Diplomacy Yuli Edelstein explained. "When it's hackers versus hackers it's not nice, but at the same time I'm not sure there is an immediate danger."

Edelstein also indicated the hacker war was less about technological sabotage than propaganda, "To fight it we have to think about the atmosphere on the Internet, on the Web. In my opinion this is just another part of the whole 'bash Israel campaign' that we sometimes face."

In remarks on Israel Radio Edelstein dismissed both Arab and Israeli hackers as foolish, saying "they do stupid things."

Well-funded state actors, however, were of greater concern for Edelstein.

"On a more serious note," Edelstein said. "We know that technology can be used by dictatorships... countries that are openly talking about the destruction of the State of Israel. Hence the government created a special headquarters to give answers to these questions."

"Israel is known as a super-power in this whole field of information security, Internet, high-tech. I'm sure our hack-warriors will be able to make our lives here secure," Edelstein said.

Edelstein also dismissed the suggestion that official Israeli cyber-war elements would go on the offensive, "We are not in the business of attacking anyone."

"Our first and foremost goal is to prevent others from attacking the State of Israel via the web," he added.